ANGRY residents have hit out at County Hall bosses after Whinney Hill tip was forced to close on the first weekend it became the only recycling centre in Hyndburn.

Great Harwood county and borough councillor Gareth Molineux said he was inundated with complaints after Whinney Hill tip and recycling centre stopped accepting waste at a number of times over the weekend.

The county council said the site was closed at one stage because of a fire at the site.

But it also admitted that the site had experienced large numbers of users.

The site, which usually opens between 8am and 7pm, seven days a week remained closed until 10am on Monday. Elsewhere in Haslingden, the tip closed on Sunday after it was overwhelmed by demand.

Coun Molineux said Great Harwood residents, who have to travel further afield since the closure of Great Harwood Waste Recycling Centre, were assured that remaining waste sites could handle the extra demand.

The decision to close Great Harwood, Bacup and Colne recycling centres was made in December.

Coun Molineux said overflowing skips at remaining centres was ‘unacceptable’ as resi-dents will have been forced to find other me-thods of dealing with their waste.

He said: “We said that the remaining centres would not be able to cope after the closure of much needed sites, such as Great Harwood.

“If Accrington’s site cannot stay open for more than half the day on Sunday, it proves that point.”

A consultation before the closure of sites in Great Harwood, Bacup and Colne saw more than 6,000 people opposing the move.

Clare Atkinson, from the waste management team at Lancashire County Council, said: “A small fire on Saturday at the Whinney Hill site led to the closure of the centre for an hour.

“The fire created a backlog when the site reopened, which led to longer than usual waiting times and made it busier than we would have normally expected.

“We always expect that the first sunny weekend of the year will be busy. If people have comments or concerns about access and availability of our sites, please let us know.”